Letting agents pay the price for using ‘cheap’ waste collector

A property letting agent who failed to make sure his waste was disposed of properly has been hit with a costly fine.

Following a prosecution by Leeds City Council, Mohammed Haroon Butt, director of Manor Properties pleaded guilty on behalf of the company at Leeds Magistrates Court yesterday (Thursday 27 November), to failing in their duty of care to make sure the businesses waste was disposed of legally. He was fined £400 and ordered to pay costs of £2071, as well as a victim surcharge of £40.

The fine related to flytipped waste, which was found dumped outside an empty property on Harlech Crescent in Beeston, which had recently been refurbished. The waste contained bags and boxes of household waste and also some old furniture items with evidence relating to the house which Manor Properties (trading as Catlows) were the letting agents for. The waste had to be removed by Leeds City Council using tax payers’ money.

During the investigation by Leeds City Council’s environmental action officers it was discovered that employees of Catlows had employed a company who were not licenced to transport and deal with waste to remove their rubbish. They then made no attempt to ensure that their waste was going to be disposed of in a legal manner.

When interviewed, Mohammed Haroon Butt, stated they used a ‘cheap’ company to dispose of their waste. The company they used just left the waste on the public footpath immediately outside of the property.

“The council should not be left to the count the cost of cleaning up business waste.”

All businesses have a legal Duty of Care to ensure that they take all reasonable steps to prevent their waste being fly tipped, to prevent the escape of waste from their control by ensuring the waste is contained appropriately, to only give their waste to a licenced waste carrier and to obtain and keep proof of legal disposal through either a waste transfer note, receipt or invoice.